Gunslinger Maiden
by Hyuga Akimoto
Summary: Gunpowder. It smelled like gunpowder. She could hear it, faintly echoing in the background, gunfire peppering her ears. She opened her eyes. Before her stood several dead men, their bodies covered in bleeding orifices...


Gunpowder

Gunpowder.

It smelled like gunpowder. She could hear it, faintly echoing in the background, gunfire peppering her ears.

She opened her eyes. Before her stood several dead men, their bodies covered in bleeding orifices, countless spent casings lying alongside them.

In her hands was a gun. It looked so heavy, but it felt as light as paper in her hands.

She gazed left and right, trying to find her bearings. To her left she found a cracked mirror, bullet holes causing millions of tiny fractures. A pair of blue eyes stared at her. Her clothes were crimson, but she could spot where a bullet had struck, the bright crimson running down along her naked arm.

"Now you've done it, Shinku." She heard Jun disappointingly state from behind. "Nori, tell them that the mission was a failure."

"Don't misunderstand me. I wasn't trying to protect you…" Shinku began, pausing for a moment, trying to find an excuse. "I… Thought he would endanger the mission. It just got out of control, that's all…"

"When do you think she'll wake up?"

"Any time now. You can go in right now if you want."

"Is it safe?"

"She's been preprogrammed. It'll be fine. All she knows is that she must obey you."

"I see…"

"Why did you pick her anyway? I mean it is pretty sad, what happened to her."

"I don't know. I guess I felt sorry for her.

In the midst of a little garden was a dining table, upon it all necessary ingredients for tea. At one end was a little girl dressed in red, who sat in a most poised manner, sipping lightly from a cup of tea. On the other side was a man whose eyes were clear and sharp, his hand nimble and dexterous. To the side stood a man with the head of a rabbit, dressed in the uniform of a butler, quietly standing at attention.

"Father, did you need something of me?" The young girl asked as she set down her cup.

"Yes. You must do something very important for me." He replied as he motioned for the rabbit to come hither.

"What would that be, father?" She asked as the rabbit beckoned, not to him, but to her.

"I need you to die."

The rabbit drew a gun from his jacket and aimed it at her.

"I'm sorry, father."

Her blue eyes snapped wide, staring at a white ceiling. Somehow, she knew where she was, without knowing where. Confused, she sat up, and was met by the eyes of a young man.

He sat at a table, upon the table a metallic case. He wore a business suit that matched poorly with his unkempt black hair and glasses.

"I see you're up." The man stated. "Do you know what this is?"

He opened the case, displaying its contents. Within was some kind of metallic object. She could vaguely recall its properties.

"It's… A gun…?" The blue eyed girl hesitantly answered, unsure of what to make of it.

"Do you know your name?"

"It….It's… Shinku…" She mumbled out, but the name felt foreign, as if it were not her own.

"I see…" He muttered, standing up. In his left hand was a brown bag. "Do you know who I am?"

"Jun." She muttered. "Jun Sakurada…"

"Yes, I am your medium." He held out his right hand, and upon it was a ring in the shape of a rose. "I want you to wear this."

He set the ring onto the table, next to the gun. "I'm going to leave. I'll be back tomorrow. While I'm gone I want you to read this." Informing her, he produced a white booklet, written upon it 'FN Five-seveN'

"There are also clothes in this bag that I want you to change into."

Jun set both manual and bag onto the table. "Tomorrow we start training."

With that he wordlessly left through the door behind him, and Shinku was left alone. She took this moment to study her surroundings; a white room, a white bed, a white table upon over which a white light shined, and strangely enough, a mirror that ran along a wall of the room, parallel to the bed. Hesitantly she got out of bed, adjusting to this place, the feel of her body. It felt foreign, as if not her own. She tried to think of before, but try as she might the farthest back her mind would go was that dream, yet that was just a haze; only she could only recall figments of it. The only substantial thing she could recall was Jun's face.

"Hmph, stupid Jun." Shinku muttered to herself as she approached the table.

She looked into the bag, reaching in and pulling out the clothes. It was a simple, blood red dress. Looking at herself in the mirror, it felt oddly wrong for someone to see her in these pajamas, and quickly got to work redressing. It fit perfectly, made for her and only her. Her eyes then brought her to two objects: The ring and the booklet.

Studying it intensely, she thought it was a work of art. A golden band, upon which a rose made of ruby was inset. She put it upon her ring finger, discovering that it too fit perfectly, but somehow she almost expected this. Her eyes then came to rest upon the booklet.

She sat where Jun sat not moments ago and began reading intensely. Here, time had no meaning. There was no clock, no window, no means of wondering what it was like outside. Simply timeless. She read the manual thoroughly, then after she was finished, she re-read the book. After that, she read it again.

Upon finishing the manual the fourth time she looked to the gun. It looked exactly as the diagrams in the booklet described. She picked it up, as if clueless to the weapon's nature. She checked the magazine, it was empty. Looking back in the case, she found there to be a cleaning kit.

She went to work as if it were the most natural thing in the world, disassembling and cleaning the firearm, then reassembling it once more.

Shinku then took aim at the door and cocked the hammer back. She fired at the door, the loud click echoing in the small room.

It came so naturally.


End file.
